BBM on Samsung Galaxy phones 'soon', ads promise

BlackBerry Messenger is edging ever closer to Android phones, with the massively popular mobile IM service advertised in Africa as coming soon to Samsung Galaxy phones.

Readers of BlackBerry blog CrackBerry reported seeing TV ads in a few different African countries during last night's deeply tedious Man Utd v Chelsea match. The ad briefly appeared on Samsung Ghana's YouTube account before being taken down.

Samsung Ghana's Facebook page is currently teasing users with the status, "Another messenger is coming on Samsung phones sooner than you think… what is it?"

Earlier this month Samsung Africa revealed BBM would become part of the Samsung Messenger Hub, but didn't announce a date. The app will be free from Google Play and Samsung's own app store.

It's not yet clear when BBM will come to Android phones here in the UK, or if Samsung will get behind it in the same way. BlackBerrys are still hugely popular in Africa, and reassuring users they'll still be able to message their mates if they swap to a Samsung is a really persuasive bit of marketing.

Here in the UK, teenagers have already ditched BlackBerrys in their droves, picking up cheap Android phones and migrating their messaging to similar services such as WhatsApp, or the chat function of Facebook. Nevertheless, recent figures from analyst Acision reckon it's still the most popular IM service in the UK. More than 60 million people use it every month worldwide.

BlackBerry announced BBM would be coming to Android and iPhone back in May. A few weeks ago it confirmed it was being tested out in the real world among BlackBerry employees and their friends and families.

Are you gagging for BBM on your Galaxy? Or have you and your chums moved onto another system entirely? Let me know where you're chatting down in the comments, or hit up our chatty Facebook page.